The Beatitudes: Part 4 – Hungering & Thirsting
King Jesus always begins with the heart, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. When He pronounced a blessing on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, He touched on the inner condition of our hearts. Those listening were living under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. They were experiencing excessive taxation, denied freedoms, and persecution. The servants of God’s kingdom desperately needed the heavenly perspective, and hope, of an eternal inheritance that Christ presented in the Beatitudes. Those who thirst for righteousness receive the water Jesus offered to the woman at the well: “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:14) This beatitude could be paraphrased as follows: “Deeply joyful and spiritually whole are those who actively seek right relationship with God and, in so doing, discover that He alone can completely save and satisfy their souls.”